Leadership in Patient Safety Capacity Building

Patient safety and quality improvement education is foundational to knowledge, skill acquisition and attitudes necessary to transform health systems into highly reliable and resilient organizations. The Canadian Patient Safety Institute works with its partners to identify leading patient safety practices, develop safety competencies, and support the integration of leading practices into education, training and professional development for undergraduate, post-graduate and practicing healthcare professionals across the continuum of care.

Patient Safety Education Program – Canada

The Patient Safety Education Program – Canada (PSEP – Canada) takes an interprofessional team approach to improving patient safety skills and planning patient safety education aligned with quality improvement initiatives. The face–to–face, conference–based program uses a train–the–trainer curriculum-driven approach grounded in adult learning methods to teach both content and how to disseminate it.

Since the peer–to–peer education framework was introduced in 2011, more than 1,000 PSEP – Canada trainers have been certified to educate and spread patient safety knowledge. In 2017–18, PSEP – Canada conferences were delivered in Edmonton, Alberta; Whitehorse, Yukon; and two sessions in Toronto, Ontario.

Last year, two PSEP – Canada curriculum modules were revised, including medication safety and human factors. A new module was created, called the Healthcare Provider’s Experience of Patient Safety Incidents.

Innovations in Patient Safety Education Awards

The Innovations in Patient Safety Education Awards recognizes organizations, groups or individuals that demonstrate exemplary practices in patient safety education and quality improvement work using the Patient Safety Education Program – Canada program. Award recipients are selected based on how their specific education initiative enhances patient safety education in their organization and yields leading practices that are scalable and can be adapted to other healthcare organizations across the country.

The 2017 Power of and Organization Award recipient was Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Ontario for their efforts in recognizing untapped potential and providing the knowledge and skills to ensure that clients and families have an equal voice in patient safety to effectively partner with clinicians in advancing high quality safe care. The strategic imperative of training clients and families has now resulted in the co-design of an education program with family, youth and child leaders as part of the planning committee that will build capacity and provide training to more than 200 family leaders at Holland Bloorview.

The 2017 Power of a System was awarded to Trillium Health Partners in Toronto, Ontario for their efforts in the development of a quality improvement module for their Medical Psychiatry Collaborative Care Certificate (MP3C). The certificate program is based on four foundational continuing professional development modules, each with a focus on improving care and health outcomes for patients who suffer from physical and psychiatric illnesses.

ASPIRE

The Advancing Safety for Patients in Residency Education (ASPIRE) program is a national faculty development certificate program in patient safety, quality improvement and resource stewardship competencies for medical educators and residents. The four-day educational event enhances the capacity of healthcare institutions to provide patient safety training locally. While the focus of this intense program is on residency education, any interested physician can benefit from this practical curriculum

In September 2017, a French program was delivered to 28 participants; and 47 participants completed an English program in November 2017. The program was developed collaboratively with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Canadian Patient Safety Officer Course

The Canadian Patient Safety Officer Course was jointly developed and is delivered by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and HealthCareCAN and supported by experts from across Canada and internationally. Available in two delivery models, in-person and online, the course equips healthcare professionals and leaders with the information, tools, and techniques to build a strong patient safety culture within their organizations.

Since its inception, some 580 individuals have completed the program, including participants from all Canadian provinces and several international countries. The 2017 in-person course was attended by 35 Canadian and international participants, including three from Hong Kong. Nineteen presenters facilitated 18 sessions focused on various elements of patient safety and participant engagement. New this year to the faculty was Dr. Albert W. Wu from Johns Hopkins, who presented on provider experiences with patient safety incidents.

Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety

The Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety (EGQPS) program offers a unique opportunity to explore evidence-based approaches to governance and leadership and to share innovative health governance practices, resources and tools. The program is designed for board members of healthcare organizations and their leadership team (CEOs, quality and patient safety executive leads and clinical leadership) – and focuses on improving quality, performance, and patient safety through the use of evidence. In 2017-18, an EGQPS session was delivered to the Good Samaritan Society in Edmonton, Alberta with 37 participants. To date, the program has been delivered across the country in eight provinces, to more than 3,000 board members and senior leaders.

Patient Safety and Incident Management

The Incident Management and Disclosure Program supports capability-building of healthcare providers in preventing, recognizing, responding to, learning from, and improving the healthcare system’s capabilities related to patient safety incidents. Through this program, all of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute’s tools, resources and training programs for Incident Management and Disclosure are reviewed and updated to ensure their appropriateness and relevance

In collaboration with Ryerson University, a review of the needs of healthcare providers and leaders across Canada was conducted related to incident management. The study included focus group sessions with 61 participants, and a survey with 155 responses. The Incident Management Toolkit and the Canadian Incident Analysis Framework will be up-dated based on the recommendations outlined in the final report, which is expected to be released in early 2019.

The Incident Analysis Training Program was delivered to the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) of British Columbia in February 2018 (another session is planned for May 2018). Six members of Indigenous Services Canada attended the training program. Ongoing support is being provided to the FNIHB-Indigenous Services Incident Management Working Group in developing internal policies, and tools and resources for Incident Management and Disclosure.

The Incident Management Training Program is comprised of three webinars (between 90 to 120 minutes in duration) and one full day in-person workshop. Each of the three webinars delivered had between 50 and 60 participants, and a full day workshop in Vancouver had 40 participants.

Safety Competencies

The Safety Competencies identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to enhance patient safety across the spectrum of care. Co-authored by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Safety Competencies has six core competency domains. This valuable framework was designed for all healthcare professionals and includes 20 key competencies, 140 enabling competencies, 37 knowledge elements, 34 practical skills, and 23 essential attitudes that can lead to safer patient care and quality improvement.

A Report on the Integration of Safety Competencies Framework (SCF) into Health Professions Education Programs in Canada has been published and is now available on the Canadian Patient Safety Institute’s website. In 2017-18, a plan was developed to revise and update the Safety Competencies Framework. A survey on patient safety education needs and priorities was undertaken and content experts and Domain Working Groups were identified to integrate the following four concepts into each of the six domains of the Safety Competencies Framework: Leadership for Patient Safety; Quality Improvement; Patient Partnerships/Engagement; and Cultural Safety. A Safety Competencies Framework Steering Committee has been established to oversee this work and the revisions to the Framework are expected to be complete in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing

The Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) have partnered to develop national learning outcomes for graduates of baccalaureate programs of nursing that simultaneously reflect the Canadian Patient Safety Institute interprofessional safety competencies and the guiding principles of the CASN national education framework. A 12-person national Nursing Advisory Committee comprised of experts from across the country was established to provide this foundation for graduating registered nurses

The patient safety learning outcomes were created by a national panel of experts, through a series of stakeholder consultations and consensus building activities. A Stakeholder Forum held in February 2018, included 46 participants representing 22 Canadian undergraduate university nursing programs, eight provincial nurse regulator organizations, and four national organizations (CPSI, CASN, Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Nursing Association). The finalized learning outcomes will be launched at the CASN Annual General Meeting in November 2018.

Together with the Health Standards Organization (HSO), the Canadian Patient Safety Institute has formed a National Quality and Patient Safety Advisory Committee to establish required quality and safety practices for Canadian accreditation standards and programs. The Committee had their first face-to-face meeting in April 2018. Quality and patient safety leaders from across Canada are represented on the Committee, including healthcare providers, Quality Councils, Regional Health Authorities, Governments and policymakers, and the public (Patients for Patient Safety Canada).

2017 Innovations in Patient Safety Education Award – Power of a System Trillium Health Partners PSEP – Canada team